PROLOGUE.
This is No.5 of the disjointed 6 part set. The main characters are aged 24, 26, and 25, and all were at least 18 when any previous activity took place. The story is set in the US, I apologise/apologize if some of my geography and terminology is awry.
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Important.
I will be writing a story, not entirely in this genre, featuring a character I introduce in this one, but she plays no active part here. She will have a central role next time. I trust that is in order. BS.
My cousin JJ shouted across the noisy office.
"Hey, Greg, your sister Louise has been trying to get hold of you, I said you would phone when you got in."
He was always referred to as JJ, although christened John John to please, I was told, his two grandfathers both called John.
What does sister Louise want, we haven't spoken for six months. I hope nothing's happened to mother
.
Sister's phone was busy, so I sent a text message to tell her I was in the office until 8.00pm. We run a very successful shipping agency out of Savannah, and JJ and myself take it in turns to work unsociable hours so as to contact worldwide clients in their various time zones. The agency was started by my father Al and his brother George some years ago, although sadly Dad passed away with cancer when I was a teenager, and Mum now lives in Boston with a new partner. We do very well, employing fifty people which allows Uncle George, JJ, and myself to take time off to enjoy life. Uncle George is still a very good golfer and goes with his pals to courses all over the world, but JJ is an even better golfer and is working hard to get onto the PGA second tier tour. My hobby was sailing, and I am the proud owner of an 18-foot skiff, one of the few in the USA. These have a crew of three, and are wildly over canvassed, leading to frequent capsizes.
My sister phoned within a few minutes. Louise is 26, two years older than myself and works as medical secretary to a top surgeon in Fort Worth, where she went to university. I never worked out why mother sent her there, perhaps because she was a Texan herself. She is still single or was when we last met and she is most attractive. We get on well, but meet up rarely, I was looking forward to hearing her voice.
"What's up, sister, are you okay?"
"Yes, all fine and well, but it's Cousin Susie with the problem."
Cousin Susie is always having a problem. She is our mother's sister's daughter, and lives in Jacksonville. She is not conventionally good looking, as she has a sort of lopsided smile and a permanent frown, but she has nice legs. Aged 25, she is a partner in a fashionable boutique, which sells racy underwear, according to my sister.
"What's she done now?"
"Her big friend Mary-Jo organizes a mad all-in party weekend every year in aid of a big charity, and Susie said she wanted two tickets. They are fifteen hundred dollars each, but her new boyfriend generously said he would treat not only her but another couple as well, as a present. Now the boyfriend has vanished as usual, and she is on the hook for six grand."
I laughed down the phone although it was obviously not funny to Susie.
"So why has she told you, and why are you telling me? And where is this party weekend?"
"She asked if I wanted to go, it's a week on Saturday, and its in - and this is inconvenient - Pensacola Beach. And do you want to come with us?"
"Hang on, I am in Savannah, you are in Fort Worth, Susie is in Jacksonville and the party is in Pensacola. And it will cost me fifteen hundred dollars plus return airfare. Shall we put facetime on the phone so that you can see that I look like a nutcase? Anyway, I have a regatta a week on Sunday."
"Damn."
"Anyway, how is Susie going to afford her airfare, she is always broke, and also find another dork to pay his fifteen hundred?"
"Her mother - our aunt - is lending her the money for her ticket and paying for the other slot if she will take Cousin Kevin along with her."
I groaned.
"Cousin Kevin is a retard. He needs full time parental supervision. The last time I saw him he got drunk at his 21
st
and was sick on his mother's new sofa. I feel sorry for Susie"
"Wait, I can give you some better news. Mary-Jo, who is organizing the party, phoned me this morning, knowing that Susie had spoken to me. We can have our two tickets at cost plus to just fill the spaces. To you and me; one grand each. I can find that, and I have some air miles accrued, so how about it?"
Oh no, I am being pressured. Yes, I can afford it, and the company is flying people all the time, so it doesn't cost me all that much. And the skiff needs a new mast as we bent it last time out
.
"What's this party all about? what's it for, what goes on?
"It's a purpose-built resort on Pensacola Beach. There are forty double cabins around a pool and central restaurant block. It's quite separate from the big parent hotel and its golf course. Susie hasn't been before but apparently it gets a bit wild. The ticket includes everything, food, drink, music, a fishing trip, a fashion show, and a golf tournament. She is emailing me the details. Please say yes, Susie is always getting into a tangle, I feel we need to give her a lift."
"Oh, and its over 21's only. Most are 25 to 35."
I thought about it for a few moments.
I could do with a blow-out; I had been working solid for three months. What the heck
.
"I'll do it, providing I can square it away with JJ, I don't know his diary."
"I love you, brother, I will phone Mary-Jo now and speak to Susie. It will be fun to meet up, even with Kevin. I have had a bad few weeks, I need a spot of relief. Talk later. Bye."
A couple of hours later my private email box pinged with a message from Susie, and an information sheet about the weekend. She was looking forward to seeing me for the first time since Kevin's 21
st
, and said she was sorry for all the late arrangements.
The sheet asked us to check in on Saturday after 1pm, in the evening there would be a Mexican barbecue followed by a pool party. On Sunday morning the guys could go on a fishing trip out on the Gulf, and in the afternoon, there was a fashion show for the ladies and a golf tournament for the men. The only proviso was that you couldn't use your own clubs, you all had to use the clubs provided for hire by the hotel guests. It was off scratch, irrespective of ability and there was a prize of a generous voucher for branded sports clothing. A Fiesta party in the evening included a lively disco, we were asked to bring suitable clothes.
The sheet then detailed all the contact numbers and detailed the charity in Jacksonville to which all the profits would be directed. Lastly, where to wire the ticket money. No refunds. So, having checked that I wasn't needed in the office for that weekend, I logged on and was about to pay for my ticket when I remembered my sister's words: "I have had a bad few weeks." So, on impulse I wired Mary-Jo two thousand dollars to cover both our tickets, and emailed Louise to tell her what I had done. I could afford it; I had just banked a big cheque from selling my share of a racing keelboat.
She phoned me straight away, and I could tell she was close to tears.
"Brother, that's so sweet. I can afford it. But life has been very shitty recently, it's tough being on your own, it's good to know someone is out there looking for me. I will tell you more next weekend. Got to go. Love you."
On the spur of the moment, I then texted Susie to say I was looking forward to seeing her and said I had never seen her in a swimsuit, it had better be a good one. She texted back with a picture of herself in a very small black bikini, leaning against the door of a shop, presumably hers. It was well done, no doubt from a sales promo. She has a good figure, with long legs and a nice bust, but somehow her face is always set in a scowl as though she is in a bad mood.
I wonder if we can put a smile on her face.